Recursion Error
Episode 23- For what it's worth
Flying to the top of the windmill and staring aimlessly out into the blue sky wasn't exactly on Sorun's docket for the day, but after the event with the jackals, he just needed to get away. Get some time to himself to think.
Some things had been said between him and Infinite, and because of those things, Sorun had started to question things about himself. About what he was doing and what his plan was going forwards. What his actual goals were. Sorun needed to take a minute to sit down and think about everything that had happened and what he was going to do, what he could do, and he needed a quiet place to contemplate this all. So he chose the windmill in order to think in peace.
He had thoughts he needed to sort through.
He needed to face some hard truths.
He needed to reflect on his actions.
He needed to reevaluate his fucking priorities.
"I'm never going to see Earth again." That was the first thing he came to terms with as he sat on top of the windmill, knees pressed up to his chest as he looked up at a passing cloud. "The Emeralds don't come out. Athair said it. Tails said it. There's no getting around it. I'm stuck on Mobius forever. And I sure as shit ain't gonna find a miracle to my problem just wandering blindly around the world, assuming there even is a miracle. Which there probably isn't."
It wasn't him giving up; it was him realizing that, no, there was no going back. Ever. He didn't want to believe he'd never see the things he loved so dearly ever again. His mother. His friends. The life he'd lived. All those video games and pieces of entertainment media. The memories. His home. Just thinking about it now made silent tears stream down his otherwise calm face, but it was the truth, no matter how much he wished it wasn't so. He hadn't wanted to accept it, part of why he ran was because he refused to accept it, but now that he was taking the time to think? He didn't have any choice but to acknowledge the facts.
Here were the facts: he couldn't return to Earth. Ever. He was here to stay on Mobius.
So where did that leave him?
"I could always just go back," Sorun internally mused. "Back to the Freedom Fighters. I was only gone a day. They'd understand. They'd forgive me. And then it'd be, what, back to the daily grind? More training, more missions against Eggman, more years lost to Chaos Emeralds in exchange for power? More fun times with all those great guys?" His head tilted down to Scrap City. "I don't have to do that, though. I could just... stay here. Make a life. If not here, somewhere else. I'll never be able to live a full life because of the two Emeralds already in me, but I could make something with the time I have left. Because if I go back to the Freedom Fighters... I'm just gonna die. Either from a robot or the Emeralds." He sighed deeply. "Would abandoning them all for a new life even be worth it, though?"
He'd meant what he said to Infinite: he didn't believe the Freedom Fighters could win against Eggman. Hell, even Sonic had expressed doubts. The whole reason he was even brought here was because everybody had doubts. Aurora and Athair with their limited insight into the future said it to his face. And what happened when Eggman won? World domination. Enslavement and death of everybody. Likely very horrible and humiliating deaths that Sorun didn't want to think about. Skies perpetually covered in smog and metal for as far as the eye could see. A death to Mobius. A peaceful world turned into a tortuous landscape void of hope.
That was what awaited Mobius if Eggman won. Sorun didn't want to live in that world. Nobody did.
With Sorun, though, and his powers, there was a chance. A chance to win against Eggman, once and for all. In a month's time with two Emeralds he'd grown in strength exponentially. He only now realized it, but he'd accomplished feats he'd never even dreamed of achieving ever in his life. Defeated robots. Became strong enough to beat a Mobian like Infinite with the use of his powers. How further could he be carried with even more Emeralds? Enough, just enough, that he could be the one to turn the tide and help the Freedom Fighters beat Eggman once and for all. Aurora and Athair hinted as much.
But that path meant death for Sorun. Because those Emeralds would end up killing him. And he didn't want to die.
So what was he to do? Live for himself? Die for others? From where he sat, those were his only two choices. A hellish choice he just couldn't make his mind up on, because either way he sliced it, he didn't like either outcome. His life was ruined pretty much either way. It was already ruined since he couldn't return to Earth. So what was he to do with what he had left? He truly didn't know, and the path to gaining that wisdom was one he didn't have.
There was somebody else that had that wisdom, though. A fictional character from one of his favorite video game series. The brother of the one whose powers and son's powers the Emeralds had gifted Sorun. Someone wise enough to see the true power of humanity and never turn his back on it. Somebody who knew the significance of loving someone or something. Someone Sorun deeply respected despite him being a little more than highly-detailed pixels voiced over by an actor.
It was time get some advice from Dante from the 'Devil May Cry' series. And in turning to Dante, Sorun couldn't help but remember one particular quote that continued to stick out at him.
"Strength is a choice. Fighting like hell to protect what's important."
So what was important to Sorun? Earth, obviously, but that was lost to him forever. So what else was there? His life? That was hanging precariously over the edge, but it was something to start with.
"Say I do nothing. What happens to the world?" Sorun thought. "Most likely, Eggman wins. And that world he creates... that really a world worth living in? Assuming I'll live at all, anyways. He takes over the world and eventually I get hunted down by robots to get killed or worse." He shuddered at the thought. "Even if that doesn't happen, even if I survive, do I really want to live in a world ruled by that guy? A polluted, metal world where he reigns over everybody else? What kind of life is that?"
A terrible life. For him and everybody. A life nobody deserved. He'd go as far as to say it wasn't even a life worth living, not in a world like that.
"But if I go back and fight, we just might beat him. Everybody gets to go on in peace, but I'll end up dead. But which is better? Dead or alive in a world ruled by Eggman?"
That, he didn't know, nor could he make up his mind on. So that was the importance of his life thought of. What else was important to him? Well, his Chao was certainly important. And thinking about Virgil had lead Sorun to think about the Mobian people he'd encountered. And then he realized they'd suffer in a world ruled by Eggman, too.
"I don't even want to think about what he'd do to all the Freedom Fighters if he won. And everybody else..." He frowned, and looked down at the village. "I like them," he silently admitted to himself. "I... actually like these people. I wouldn't have gone out of my way to save Sam if I didn't. I... I don't want anybody to suffer in that world. Not the Mobians, not the humans and Overlanders, not anybody. Nobody deserves that. And these Mobians, especially the ones in Knothole... they were all so kind to me. Kinder than my own mother in some cases, and that's a real hard bar to pass." A mirthless chuckle left him. "I focused so much on hating my position here that I never even paid attention to everything else. Now that I've left and gotten my mind off of it, interacted with the people in that village down there... I really liked it. I like living with them. I liked everybody in Knothole. Everybody there was so considerate of me. So patient and understanding. They put so much time and effort and hope into me, went so far out of their way to try and befriend me to help me as much as possible...
"... And I ran out on them."
He hadn't even realized any of this until he'd left Knothole. He didn't realize how much he valued their attempts at befriending him until he'd felt jealousy over Sam hugging his grandson. He didn't realize how much he liked helping others and being acknowledged for helping until he'd helped those children. He didn't realize he'd grown to like them all so much he'd actively put his life on the line to defend them until he'd done so. Like he'd done with Sam.
Like he'd done with Knuckles, when that rock almost crushed him. Because despite the incident with the Emerald, Knuckles was a solid guy who'd forgiven him with a single apology.
Like he'd done with Antoine and Bunnie, back with that train. Those two had been among the nicest people he met, and they, along with Sally, went so far out of their way to try and help Sorun adjust to the world that he couldn't help but acknowledge them all as friends.
Like he'd done with Nicole, back when they were inside of Metal Sonic's head. She and the games they played were one of the only things that had kept him together back when he was with the Freedom Fighters. She was probably his best friend there.
And even if he still harbored some resentment for every single one of the Freedom Fighters, with the exception of a few, for bringing him here, that animosity faded more with each day.
Sorun truly liked them all. And he couldn't bear the thought of them all suffering in a future ruled by Eggman. He didn't want to picture the grisly fates that would befall every single individual he'd come to cherish if the Doctor won. He hated the fact that they'd already suffered so much at his hands. That whole lives were ruined, that people he only now realize he'd grown close to had to take up the mantle and fight him since they were children. That they'd lost so much in this war they shouldn't have had to fight in. He just wanted them to finally live in peace.
And if possible, since he was stuck here forever anyways, he'd like to live a life in peace alongside them. But, of course, in order to give them that peaceful life, he'd have to give up his own.
There really was no winning with this.
"So what are you gonna do, Sorun? You gonna live in a fucked-up dystopian torture future and watch everybody you've come to adore die or get enslaved into a meaningless existence? Or are you gonna take the quick way out and try to save everybody?"
Well, when phrased like that, the choice was obvious.
He didn't want to die.
He wanted all his friends to die even less.
"... RRRAAAAGGH!" Screaming at the top of his lungs, Sorun bolted up to his feet and threw a Summoned Sword at the sky. "FINE! I'LL DO IT! I'LL FUCKING DO IT!" He screamed out even louder to the heavens as more swords uselessly shot up to the sky. "THAT WHAT YOU WANTED, YOU ECHIDNA FUCKS!? HUH!? WELL, YOU GOT IT! CONGRATULATIONS!"
And with that, he'd finally decided what he was going to do.
He'd do it. He'd go back to the Freedom Fighters and gather more strength from the remaining Chaos Emeralds.
He'd kill himself for Mobius.
Part of Sorun almost expected the few clouds in the sky to part and for a ray of light to shine down on him to signal that he'd finally satisfied some hidden prerequisite so that he could talk to Athair and Aurora again. Or that, after finally committing to ending his life for the sake of everybody else, he'd fall unconscious again and wake up in that alternate zone they were in. But all Sorun received was the quiet sound of the wind blowing past him from the slowly spinning blades of the windmill.
So, with his expectations completely curbed and his body out of breath, he collapsed face-first onto the top of the windmill.
Full minutes passed of Sorun just laying there, body subtly shuddering as he tried to control his own emotions. The dread and frustration coursing through him as he realized he was choosing to die. Some more minutes passed before he finally slowly picked himself up into sitting in an upright-position, a few more latent tears remaining on his face that he quickly wiped off. He sniffed once, and then looked back up at the sky.
"Well... fuck. Hah... I guess on the bright side it can't get any worse than this, right?" he muttered to himself as he slowly got up to his feet. "It's all up from here, Sorun. At least 'til I die and it all comes to an abrupt, screeching halt. Fuck, my life sucks." He took in a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. "But I guess if they all get to live in exchange, it's worth it. Better that than let Eggman win. No way am I letting his fat ass ruin everybody's lives.
"I better get a whole chapter in the history books for going ahead and doing this. I want shit named after me. I want a fucking movie made in my honor. Maybe a video game, too, if society manages to pick itself back up far enough to start producing all that stuff again." A morose, joyless smile on his face, Sorun walked up to the edge of the windmill's top and looked down at Scrap City. "Well, before any of that, I gotta get back to Knothole. Problem is I don't know where it is exactly. Maybe Sam knows- I gotta go get Virgil back from him, anyways." A sigh left him as the Bringer Claws manifested. "Guess it'd be a good time to say goodbye to him and Gary, too. Doubt I'll ever live to see them again once I leave."
With that, he jumped off the windmill and flew in the direction of Sam's house.
Sorun hadn't made any stops or delays on the way to the two cats' dwelling. He had too much on his mind to deal with any of the other villagers, and after what happened with Infinite and his jackals, he didn't really know what their reactions would be towards him. Most likely positive, seeing as he had gone and saved their village from a bunch of crazy jackals. The overwhelming kind of positive that would involve a large crowd and a lot of heartfelt thanks and maybe hugs.
No, that was a bit too embarrassing for his taste, and if he was really gonna commit to a death march in the name of peace for the world he wasn't gonna attach himself to more people than necessary. Better for him to be that one weird human guy that had briefly stopped by town and saved them only to never be seen again than become somebody too well known. That wasn't gonna work for Sam and Gary, though, hence why Sorun was bothering to visit them one last time to say goodbye.
Plus he needed his Chao and directions.
Touching down right in front of the front door to Sam's house, Sorun wasted no time in knocking on the front door as his Bringer Claws disappeared. Some seconds passed before he heard small footsteps approach from the other side of the door, followed by the door quickly opening.
"Hey, S- huh?" There wasn't an aged cat man standing in front of Sorun. When he looked down, however, he saw that it was a much younger cat boy that had answered the door, black ears and tail stuck straight. "Oh, sorry about that, Gary. You know where your grandfather-?"
"Sorun!"
What happened next was that the Mobian child jumped right up to Sorun, wrapping his arms around the human's waist while burying his face into his abdomen. Sorun, with a small "oof", stumbled backwards at the new weight settling onto him, some slight panic going through him at the unexpected contact. He looked down at Gary, and then managed to take a deep breath in order to calm himself.
"Really gotta remember to thank Bunnie for that breathing tip she gave me. Thing's been a lifesaver," he thought, sighing as he rubbed the top of Gary's head. "Missed you too, pal," he muttered. A few more seconds passed, and while Sorun couldn't find the energy to pry the child off of him, the contact was still beginning to make him uncomfortable. "You can let go now."
Thankfully, Gary complied and let go of Sorun's torso, stepping back while staring up at the teen with his wide, green eyes. "Everybody's saying that you fought off the bandits and saved the village."
"... I guess that's technically accurate," Sorun said in response. Gary's eyes had brightened up so intensely from the response that Sorun had actually winced and turned his head slightly to the side.
"You're so cool!" The high-pitched praise and the sheer intensity of the smile being beamed at Sorun was almost too much to endure, and he was forced to resort to brushing his dark locks of hair over his abashed face. "Grandpa said that they almost did something really bad, but then he said you came in and beat up a bunch of those mean jackals with your blue arms and chased them off!"
"That all happened, yes," Sorun agreed with a small laugh. "Gary, come on, calm down. It wasn't anything special."
"What do you mean is wasn't anything special!? You saved the village!" The Mobian child stopped bouncing on his feet, though he still had that wide, grateful smile on his face. "You're the best, Sorun! Now come on!" He reached forwards and gripped Sorun's right hand. "You need to come in and tell me all about it!"
"H-hey!" He found himself quickly pulled inside of the house, though Sorun didn't at all resist against the child's pull despite his vocal protest. He in fact closed the door right behind him, and at Gary's behest, sighed and began recounting what had happened earlier today.
He left out a lot, of course. Mainly a majority of what he'd said to Infinite and the part where he'd actually broken all of the jackal's limbs, as he felt that maybe glorifying the act of crippling somebody in such a way to a child wasn't the best of ideas. So the story Sorun told Gary was about as barebones as it went: he'd seen trouble, so he'd swooped in, saved Sam, and beat up jackals with his Bringer Claws until they went away. The consequence of such censorship was that it wasn't the most glamorous of stories, but Sorun at least tried adding a bit of flair by mentioning the Summoned Swords.
To somebody like Sorun, it was an even more droll story to listen to than actually say. Gary, on the other hand, practically had stars sparkling in his eyes. Sorun didn't know if it was because he was desensitized to action at this point due to a life of gaming combined with a very short real-life career in life-threatening situations, or if Gary's life was really just that quiet. But whatever the case may be, by the end of the story the pair had landed in the house's kitchen, both sitting in separate chairs at the table. Sorun's form was slumped over it, elbow on the table with his head resting on his palm, whereas Gary was standing on his chair and leaning over the table.
"Woooow..." The kid was practically starstruck by the time Sorun had finally finished. "So... you really saved grandpa's life?"
"Well, I mean... you know, he... he probably wouldn't have..." Sorun trailed off, turned his head a bit to see Gary's eyes, sighed, and turned back. No use in trying to hide it, he supposed. "Yeah," he breathed out, "I saved him."
"Oh..." Gary's mood instantly deflated as he sat down in his chair. Sorun looked back over to him, softly sighed, and then picked his head up and fully turned towards him.
"Gary, it's fine," Sorun said to him in a soft voice. "He's alive along with everybody else."
"Yeah, I know. It's just that thinking about what could have happened..." The Mobian child took a shuddering breath, and then gave Sorun a small smile. "I guess the important thing is that it's over and nobody got hurt." His smile brightened. "Thank you so much for everything you've done, Sorun. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met!"
"Chao!"
The noise drew both the human's and Mobian's attention towards the kitchen entrance. Gary's expression brightened even further when he saw Sam standing there in the entrance, while Sorun's eyes locked right onto the cat's left shoulder, where he saw a Chao waving wildly at Gary.
The child laughed. "You too, Virgil. You're really neat, too."
"Hey, how come he gets praise?" Sorun complained as he pointed at the Chao. "He didn't even do anything."
"Chao."
"Emotional support!?" The teen sputtered in outrage. "What are you, my mascot now!?"
Virgil shrugged.
In a huff, Sorun collapsed right into his chair with a defeated expression. The act caused both Gary and Sam to burst out in laughter, and even the Chao on Sam's shoulder was mildly chuckling in delight. The sight was enough the bring the smallest smirks to Sorun's face as well, though he tried his best to turn his head enough to hide it.
After a few seconds of laughing, Sam sighed out and picked Virgil up off his shoulder. "To think yesterday you were askin' me if Chao were even smart," he commented as he set Virgil on the table. "Now you're acting like you understand the little guy."
Sorun shrugged as he watched Virgil waddle towards him. "Eh, still don't, but it's not really that hard to kinda get what he's saying if you can read the subtext," he explained. "Play enough games like I have where you gotta raise the stupid relationship levels of pets and companions through actions and dialogue and you learn to read subtext REAL well."
The looks he got from the cats and Chao were ones of confusion. With a sigh, the pale teen rolled his eyes.
"... The gestures help." They continued to give him confused looks, causing him to sigh again. "Geez, forget what I said," he muttered as he picked Virgil up and placed him on his left shoulder. "Thanks for looking after him, Sam."
"Er, yeah." The older Mobian regained his composure and gave him a nod. "I think I should be the one thanking you though, Sorun. After everything you-"
"Chao."
"- and Virgil have done, I wasn't gonna forget you," Sam added, causing Sorun to shoot the Chao a dirty glare. "Ever since I met you yesterday you've been nothing but a big help for all of us." He started to rub the back of his neck. "Didn't think you'd end up savin' the whole village from a buncha jackals, though. Eheh."
"Yeah, speaking of which," Sorun began. "You guys, uh, did you hear what I actually was talking about with that one guy? And, um... nobody got freaked out by, you know, how hard I went on him, did they?" he asked, a nervous tone to his voice. "I was really angry at the time when it happened, and I'm not exactly sorry for what I did, but looking back I kinda realized that most people probably woulda seen what I did as... you know. Distasteful."
With a wave of his hand, Sam shook his head. "Nah, don't worry none about it. Guy had it comin' to him, and a few broken bones never hurt anybody. 'Sides, not like you did anything that won't heal up," he said, "and maybe it'll go to be teachin' him some humility and have him stop harassing folk."
Sorun let out a sigh of relief. He'd been worried that the people wouldn't take to kindly to the way he treated Infinite. He supposed considering he'd almost killed one of them, though, they weren't going to be too overly sympathetic for his him. Seemed like everybody was just happy Sorun saved the day according to Sam.
"But, uh, nah, we were all a bit too far away to hear anything specific," Sam continued. "Heard a lot of shouting from you, though. What were you trying to say to that fella?"
"I was trying to take the diplomatic approach and maybe talk some sense into him so they'd leave in peace," Sorun said with a shrug, relieved all those embarrassing and explicit words he said hadn't been heard. "Diplomacy failed."
"Ha! That it did. Suppose you did the right thing trying to talk it out first, even if it didn't work." Sam pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the rest of them. "That all being said, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to repay you for what you've done, Sorun. For savin' my life and the village and... making sure my little Gary here didn't lose his only family left." He reached over and ruffled the top of the cat child's head while giving Sorun a sincere smile. "Really. Can't thank you enough."
A soft groan of embarrassment left Sorun as he crossed his arms and turned away from the smiling pair of cats. He felt something tap his shoulder, and he glanced over to see Virgil smiling at him, too. But while the smile was a happy one, his eyes were closed just the slightest amount. Like they were teasing, almost.
"What the hell, you were so sweet yesterday. When'd you get so cheeky?" Sorun thought as he lightly flicked Virgil on his forehead. He ignored the indignant sputter of the Chao and turned back to the Mobians. "It was nothing," he said. "I wasn't just gonna sit by and do nothing. Especially when I got powers that make it easy." He glanced off to the side. "And even then, y'know... everybody in this village seems nice and it wouldn't have felt good doing nothing."
"Chao."
"Yeah, plus Virgil would have never let me forget it."
"Heh heh. I imagine not." The smile on Sam's face fell a bit. "So, Sorun, when we first met you said that you were lost. Dunno if you ever had a destination in mind, but, well, everybody in the village practically already loves you-" Sorun's chest jolted at that, "- and we have a spare bedroom, so, you know, if you wanted-"
"Yeah, just stay with us!" Gary said enthusiastically as he leaned over the table again. "Please? It'll be really fun, I promise! We can play ball and do all sortsa stuff together and you can be, like, the village defender or something if anybody like those jackals or Eggman or whoever shows up!"
Sorun found himself blinking in surprise. He'd entertained the idea of just staying, but he hadn't thought that the possibility would come this easily. And from the way they were looking at him, it almost felt like they wanted him to stay. Gary for sure, but even Sam seemed a bit hopeful.
It was almost enough for him to take it, too. It wouldn't be home on Earth, not by a long shot, but it wouldn't be terrible. Living in a peaceful village full of people that already accepted him after everything he'd done. To just settle down from all the craziness and just relax. Finally get some of that peace he'd been searching for.
But no. He couldn't do that. Protecting a single village was nice, but protecting the entire world and everybody inside of it, including that village, was more important to him. And he'd already made up his mind.
Sorun gave them a smile- a grateful smile- but, to their disappointment and Virgil's visible confusion, he shook his head. "Sorry, guys," he said, "but I can't stay. I'd like to, but I can't. Thanks anyways."
Gary let out a whine of disappointment and slumped back into his chair. Sam looked slightly disappointed himself, but unlike his grandson the black-furred cat had a thoughtful look on his face.
"I see, I see," he mumbled. "Well, that's a shame, but I can't rightly try to chain someone down who doesn't wanna stay. That said, Sorun, I don't rightly know where you're headed, but... have you ever considered going to Knothole?"
Sorun's ears perked up in interest, and he turned to face Sam completely. "Why do you ask that?" he asked.
"Well... Sorun, I'll be honest with you," he said. "Seeing everything you can do with those arms and swords, well... you're a pretty powerful fella, ain'tcha?"
The pale human scoffed. "Arguably."
"Don't be coy, now, I saw what you did to them bandits," Sam said. "Doubt you don't know this, but the whole world's on the brink of falling into the hands of that madman, Eggman. There's a group out there called the Freedom Fighters that've been trying to beat him back since the start of this whole mess, but, well, they've been hurtin' real bad as of late," he admitted. "I just thought that somebody like you would maybe have a place there with them. Not just 'cause you got power, but because you got heart, too. You saved that Chao there, helped me and my grandson out, saved the whole village outta the kindness of your heart without askin' anything in return... well, I wouldn't know personally, but if that don't make a good Freedom Fighter candidate, then I don't know what does. I could show you on a map where the place is if you're at all interested."
It almost seemed too good to be true. Enough that Sorun burst out in a quiet, disbelieving chuckle as he held his face in his hand, shaking his head. "Alright, world, I get it. I gotta go back. I can read the damn room." Whether it be through unlikely coincidence or some unseen force, something was telling him that he needed to go back to the Freedom Fighters. Well, luckily for whatever that was he was planning on doing exactly that. But he supposed that, before anything, he should at least be straight with Sam. It was the least he deserved.
"Well, Sam... to be honest with you, I already checked that place out," Sorun admitted, causing the eyes of both cats and the Chao to widen. "Even ran around with them for a bit. Some... stuff happened between us and I had to leave for a bit." He sighed. "But I chilled out, and everything that's happened to me in the village got me thinking."
"So that's what you meant when you said you had to think about something," Sam realized. "So what-?"
"You were a Freedom Fighter!?" Gary shouted in excitement. "Did you ever meet Sonic the Hedgehog!?"
Sam shot the younger Mobian and annoyed glare. "Gary...!" he groaned out while palming his face.
"What?" With a nervous chuckle, Gary shrugged. "I-I've always wanted to meet him, so I just thought-"
"Yeah, I've met him," Sorun said, causing stars to appear in Gary's eyes. "Had to sleep in the same room as him, actually."
"Sleeping in the same room as Sonic..." The amount of awe in the young Mobian's voice was almost enough to make Sorun scoot back in his chair. "What was he like!?" Gary almost demanded. "Was he cool!? I bet he was cool! Sonic's the coolest ever!"
Sorun regarded the young Mobian for a few minutes, and then rose a flattened hand and began shaking it. "Eh. He was an okay guy. Kinda full of himself," he blandly answered.
The answer caused Gary to practically flop onto the table top. Sam roared out in laughter at the sight, an actual tear of joy streaming down his face.
"Ha ha ha ha! Ah, I needed that," the old Mobian sighed as he wiped a tear away. "Don't mind him none, Sorun. Sonic's a big hero around in a lot parts around the world to a lot of people."
"Yeah, apparently," Sorun muttered, blowing a lock of hair out of his face. "You were saying something?"
Sam tilted his head to the side, and then remembered what he was going to say and perked up. "Oh, right. I was just gonna ask if all that thinking changed your mind."
"... It did," Sorun said. "I wanna go back to Knothole. Back to the Freedom Fighters." A few blue, spectral feathers briefly appeared over his back, floated down, and disappeared. "Figured all these powers of mine should be good for something. And I... kinda miss them." He gave Sam a serious glare. "Don't tell them I said that, though. I mean it. If you ever see a Freedom Fighter never tell them I missed them."
"Ha! No promises." Sam sat up out of his seat while Sorun grumbled something under his breath. "Well, I've heard enough. Sit tight, Sorun. I'll go get you that map."
He left the kitchen shortly after. Sorun continued sitting in his seat, occasionally glancing at Virgil and a window outside. He heard shuffling in front of him, and then looked forwards to see Gary sit up in is seat.
"So you're really leaving?" he asked, his voice a bit quieter than normal. The disappointment on his features wasn't lost at all to Sorun, who nodded in confirmation.
"Well, someone's gotta save the world," he said. "Right, Virgil?"
"Chao! Chao!" Virgil clapped his arm-limbs together happily in agreement.
"See?" Sorun pointed at the happy Chao. "Virgil gets it. Sorry if you wanted me to stick around, Gary."
"No, it's fine. I understand." A quiet sigh left the young cat. "I... I think it would have been really nice having someone like you around. You could have been like my big brother," he said.
The fact that somebody would even consider such a thing towards him moved something inside of Sorun's chest, but he did his best to smother the warm feeling so it wouldn't leak out onto his face. He still saw Virgil give him an almost knowing smirk from the corner of his eyes, though, and Sorun had to resist the urge to flick the Chao again.
"But you going out there to help save the world is more important," Gary continued. The downcast look he had turned into a smile. "I bet you'll be great. So great that you'll be even more famous than Sonic!"
"Oh, that'd be awesome. I could lord it over him forever," Sorun commented with a light smirk. His head perked up when he saw Sam reenter the kitchen, a rolled piece of paper in his hand. "Yo, Sam. That the map?"
"Sure is," Sam said with a nod as he tossed the paper to Sorun. "Kinda funny that Knothole's location used to be such a well-kept secret, but after it got so big I guess it kinda became an open secret since everyone knows where it is now. I'm actually surprised you don't know where it is since you're from there and all, Sorun."
Sorun opened the map halfway, and then glanced up at Sam. "Directions are hard." He ignored the snickers from the two cats and rolled the map open further. He saw Northamer and a circled spot labeled "Scrap City", and a circled spot lower down on the continent labeled "Knothole". He gave a satisfied nod, and then rolled the map back closed. "Alright. I can figure it out from here," he said, focusing back on the two Mobians. "So, uh... guess this is it, then."
"Guess so," Sam agreed. "Well, Sorun, it's been a pleasure. Truly." He stepped closer to Sorun, and then held a hand out. "You're always welcome here if you ever need somewhere to sleep. Now stay safe out there, y'hear?"
Glancing down at the hand, Sorun let out a chuckle at the irony of the statement before grasping the cat's hand and shaking it. "Yeah. You too, old timer." He let go of his hand and looked towards Gary. "Bye, Gary. Try not to kick that ball too high. Your old-old man can't handle the stress." He got the barest bit satisfaction from the clicking sound Sam's tongue made.
"I won't!" Gary waved his hand in Sorun's direction. "Bye, Sorun! Bye, Virgil!"
"Chao!" Virgil cried out happily, waving his limb at the direction of the two cats. Sorun stared at the pair of cats for a long moment, taking in the sight of their happy faces so he could memorize them, and then smiled the barest amount while he turned around and gave them a two-fingered salute from over his head.
He walked out of the kitchen right after. The teen made his way to the house's front door, and then stepped out without a moment's hesitation. He closed the door behind him, and then took in a deep breath as he took in the sight of the vibrant village around him. His eyes lingered on the happy villagers walking by, some of which had smiled and waved in Sorun's direction. He'd waved back at them as he began walking forwards.
"Yeah. I'm makin' the right choice here." He didn't want to see all this peace snuffed out by Eggman. Not Sam or Gary's peace. Not the peace of everybody in this village. Not anybody's in Knothole. Not the peace of his friends in the Freedom Fighters. Not any of the Mobians' or humans' or Overlanders' peace on any of the continents. Not to anybody's peace in the world. He may not have been able to undo the damage that psychopathic Doctor had caused, but he could at least ensure he was stopped so that this world had a true chance at peace. For whatever that was worth seeing as he'd never be able to experience it personally. As long as everybody else was happy, though... well, he wouldn't say he was satisfied with the outcome, but he'd take it. "Consequences be damned. May not be my first choice, but if I'm really stuck here I'd rather die saving the world than live seeing it rot." He made a sad smile as his Bringer Claws formed. "I made my choice. Everybody is just too important to me. Time to get more power and end this."
"Well, Virgil," Sorun sighed out as he looked up at the sky, "you ready to go be a Freedom Fighter? I'm gonna warn you right now: it involves gratuitous amounts of violence and friendship, and copious amounts of stress from both."
"Chao-chao!" He vigorously nodded at Sorun and excitedly clapped his arms together.
"Heh. Alright, then. Let's go save the world." The Bringer Claws began flapping. "Even if it kills me."
The Bringer Claws beat down on the ground, and Sorun, carrying Virgil on his shoulder, shot up into the sky. The only sign they were ever there were a few loose blue, spectral feathers that had fallen off of the Bringer Claws that slowly touched down on the ground before dissipating into nothing.
A/N- He's back in, boys and girls. He's back in.
So I wanna take this moment to talk about the gag curse, since I keep getting asked about it. Truth is the gag curse is a convenient plot device I made, because while planning this story out I thought to myself, "Well Sorun's just gonna tell them and they won't let him touch any more Emeralds. And he's not gonna go out of his way for them. What am I supposed to do about that?" Gag curse was kind of a band-aid in that regard to remedy the problem, and it added another layer to the story so why not, but a lot of the reasons I didn't go too far into it was because I figured as long as I had at least some moments where Sorun tried to get around it it'd be good enough until we got here.
But yeah, the gag curse is kind of moot now since Sorun just consigned himself to death. He actively wants to absorb all the Emeralds now, and telling anybody about the negative effects would be counter-productive to that, so he'll willfully keep it a secret. If anything he'd actively make sure it remains a secret at this point.
To be honest I feel like the gag curse is kind of a weak point in this story since it feels kinda slapped together. It kinda also has to exist because without it the whole plot falls apart, but, eh, it just didn't seem that eloquent to me but I couldn't think of a better alternative. I tried my best to make up for it by writing around it and all the mental trauma it caused Sorun. But again, that curse is pretty much useless now since Sorun's made up his mind.
